WHISTLEBLOWER REVEALS GOOGLE’S PLANS FOR CENSORED SEARCH IN CHINA

The search engine would filter sites like Wikipedia and information about topics like freedom of speech

Google is reportedly planning to relaunch its search engine in China, complete with censored results to meet the demands of the Chinese government. The company originally shut down its Chinese search engine in 2010, citing government attempts to “limit free speech on the web.” But according to a report from The Intercept, the US tech giant now wants to return to the world’s biggest single market for internet users.

According to internal documents provided to The Intercept by a whistleblower, Google has been developing a censored version of its search engine under the codename “Dragonfly” since the beginning of 2017. The search engine is being built as an Android mobile app and will reportedly “blacklist sensitive queries” and filter out all websites blocked by China’s web censors (including Wikipedia and BBC News). The censorship will extend to Google’s image search, spell check, and suggested search features.

CENSORSHIP GROUPS WARN THE MOVE WOULD SET “A TERRIBLE PRECEDENT”

The web is heavily censored in China, with the country’s so-called Great Firewall stopping citizens from accessing many sites. Information on topics like religion, police brutality, freedom of speech, and democracy are heavily filtered, while specific search topics (like the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and Taiwanese independence) are censored completely. Advocacy groups report that censorship in the country has increased under President Xi Jinping, extending beyond the web to social media and chat apps.

The whistleblower who spoke to The Intercept said they did so because they were “against large companies and governments collaborating in the oppression of their people.” They also suggested that “what is done in China will become a template for many other nations.”

Patrick Poon, a researcher with Amnesty International, agreed with this assessment. Poon told The Intercept that if Google launches a censored version of its search engine in China it will “set a terrible precedent” for other companies. “The biggest search engine in the world obeying the censorship in China is a victory for the Chinese government — it sends a signal that nobody will bother to challenge the censorship any more,” said Poon.

In a statement given to The Verge, a spokesperson said: “We provide a number of mobile apps in China, such as Google Translate and Files Go, help Chinese developers, and have made significant investments in Chinese companies like JD.com. But we don’t comment on speculation about future plans.”

THE CENSORED SEARCH APP STILL NEEDS GOVERNMENT APPROVAL

According to The Intercept, Google faces a number of substantial barriers before it can launch its new search app in China, including approval from officials in Beijing and “confidence within Google” that the app will be better than its main rival in China, Baidu.

Google previously offered a censored version of its search engine in China between 2006 and 2010, before pulling out of the country after facing criticism in the US. (Politicians said the company was acting as a “functionary of the Chinese government.”) In recent months, though, the company has been attempting to reintegrate itself into the Chinese commercial market. It launched an AI research lab in Beijing last December, a mobile file management app in January, and an AI-powered doodle game just last month.

Although this suggests Google is eager to get a slice of China’s huge market of some 750 million web users, ambitions to relaunch its search engine may yet go nowhere. Reports in past years of plans to bring the Google Play mobile store to China, for example, have so far come to nothing, and Google regularly plans out projects it ultimately rejects.

Notably, relations between China and the US have worsened in recent weeks due to trade tariffs imposed by President Trump. The Interceptreports that despite this Google staff have been told to be ready to launch the app at short notice. The company’s search engine chief, Ben Gomes, reportedly told employees last month that they must be prepared in case “suddenly the world changes or [President Trump] decides his new best friend is Xi Jinping.”

AT&T PLANS BUYING GUIDE: WHICH ONE IS THE BEST FOR YOUR NEEDS?

So, you’ve been thinking about biting the gun and becoming an AT&T customer?

Good thinking, but which plan to choose? Clearly, the abundance of options in AT&T’s roster don’t make the choice any easy, but we are here to help.

A couple of weeks ago, we walked you through all the different plans in Verizon’s lobby, but now it’s time to subject AT&T to the same treatment.

Unlimited plans

AT&T Unlimited Plus Enhanced and AT&T Unlimited Choice Enhanced

Ever since AT&T caved in and finally offered truly unlimited plans last year, its Unlimited Plus Enhanced plan has positioned itself as the most-loaded out plan. This plan is perfect for families due to the flexibility of the included line options and the loadout of features, compromise with speed, streaming quality, or the ability to use a mobile hotspot.

Meanwhile, AT&T Unlimited Choice Enhanced is mostly the same unlimited data/text/voice calls ordeal, but it comes with less features and is a bit more affordable. Both plans are perfect for family usage scenarios, and choosing one over the other would highly depend on your stance towards video streaming quality, mobile hotspot, and speed throttling.

Here’s a rundown of the pricing of the different lines, and after that we’d rundown other notable features of the plan. Note that the prices below have AutoPay and Paperless billing discounts applied to them.

Plan

1 line

2 lines

3 lines

4 lines

Any additional line

AT&T Unlimited & More Premium

$80*

$75 per line

$57 per line

$48 per line

–

$80/mo

$150/mo

$170/mo

$190/mo

+$30/mo

AT&T Unlimited & More

$70

$63

$49

$40

$70/mo

$125/mo

$145/mo

$160/mo

+$30/mo

* – Prices after discount with AutoPay and Paperless billing.

It’s obvious that the more, the merrier.

As you can see, once you start adding new lines to the AT&T Unlimited Plus Enhanced plan, prices become more and more affordable, making them more and more palatable for the regular family of up to four out there, and overall, a better deal.

With prices out of the way, let’s see what the two unlimited data plans offer as far as data allotments, features, and speeds are concerned.

Plan

LTE Data

Speed throttling

Video streaming

Hotspot

TV

AT&T Unlimited & More Premium

Unlimited

Yes, temporarily at busy times after using >22/GB per line/mo

HD, up to 1080p (may be limited to SD after using >22GB/line/mo)

Yes, up to 15GB

$15/mo discount on DIRECTV or DIRECTV NOW

AT&T Unlimited & More

Unlimited

Yes, at busy times

SD, up to 480p

No

$15/mo discount on DIRECTV NOW

Common strengths of both plans:

Free HBO for life: Both plans give you HBO for life. That’s undoubtedly a boon for all fans of A+ TV shows from the likes of Game of Thrones, Westworld, The Wire and many others as HBO has one of the most loaded-out subscription services out there. Have in mind that the actual promotion will start within 2 monthly billing cycles. Of course, if you drop your Unlimited Choice or Plus plan, you automatically forfeit the HBO benefit.

Unlimited roaming in Mexico & Canada: Pretty self-explanatory, but with either Unlimited Plus or Choice you get unlimited roaming in both neighboring countries.

Unlimited texting from USA to 120+ countries: With either Unlimited Plus or Choice you can text, send pictures and video messages via MMS to more than 120 countries around the globe at no extra cost.

AT&T THANKS: AT&T’s benefit program allows you to get insider access to special events, various forms of entertainment like movies and music, as well as get expert help, and many others at no extra cost. The majority of these benefits can be explored and used from the dedicated AT&T THANKS app on the app stores.

Military discounts: If you’re qualified military personnel or a veteran you get 15% discount at every monthly bill.

Our verdict: If you want the absolute best unlimited plan on AT&T, you should certainly go for Unlimited Plus Enhanced. It has the most bells and whistles and you shouldn’t worry about throttling that much. Well, at least until you don’t go over 22GB of LTE data per line per month as you’re likely to experience temporary throttling at busier times. Additionally, the 15GB mobile hotspot allotments is well worth it, especially if you use your device to cast Internet in your immediate vicinity. Conversely, if you’re perfectly fine with a bit more throttling in busier time windows and don’t use your device as a mobile hotspot, you will also be fine with AT&T Unlimited Choice Enhanced.

Limited & Prepaid Data plans

If you’re looking for something else than an unlimited data plan, AT&T’s prepaid ones are here to help. But which one to choose – the eponymous AT&T Prepaid plans or the Mobile Share Flex ones? Let’s highlight all the features and intricate differences and help you make up your mind.

AT&T Prepaid

The good ol’ Prepaid plans are a perfect match for people that value flexibility over anything else. With no annual plan, credit check, or even an activation fee in sight, it’s as close as you can get to freedom when dealing with large corporations. You can have AT&T Prepaid in a variety of flavors, ranging from $30 to $85 per month, depending on your loadout and discounts. Here’s a rundown of the prices and features:

No matter which plan you choose, we highly recommend enrolling into the AutoPay program, which will automatically charge your eligible credit or debit card every billing period. With AutoPay, you eliminate the possibility of having your service terminated after not paying on time. That’s a great thing to have on its own, but the discount on the prepaid plans is another boon to consumers’ wallets.

You can save even more if you bundle multiple prepaid plans together. For a second and a third additional lines, you get $10 off on your total monthly bill, while for a fourth and fifth additional line you get $20 off. This means that you can save up to $110 per month if you combine five Prepaid Unlimited Plus plans, or $1,320 per annum. You can check out the interactive AT&T configurator right here.

Our verdict: From the get-go, we wouldn’t recommend the $65/mo plan as it’s pretty hampered when compared to the others. Sure, it comes with unlimited data in tow, but we don’t like the lack of mobile tethering functionality as well as its inability to stream 1080p video. Albeit pricier, the top unlimited data plan is definitely better value on all fronts. When it comes to the ‘cheaplings’, it all comes to whether you can live with as low as a gigabyte of fast-speed data per month and whether you travel to Mexico and Canada often – if no, you should probably go for the $40/mo plan, but if you are okay with less data and no free-of-charge roaming allotment.

INDUSTRY GROUPS SUE TO STOP CALIFORNIA NET NEUTRALITY LAW

The broadband industry’s four main lobbying groups are joining forces to stop California’s state net neutrality law from taking effect.

On Wednesday, mobile-industry lobbyist the CTIA; USTelecom, which lobbies for the telecommunications industry; and the two lobbying organizations for the cable industry, NCTA and the American Cable Association, jointly filed a lawsuit in federal court against the state of California to block its new law.

Collectively, the groups represent almost every broadband provider in the country, including mobile operators like T-Mobile and Sprint as well as cable and telecom companies such as AT&T, Comcast, Charter, Verizon, Frontier and CenturyLink.

The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California, asserts that California’s net neutrality protections are illegal because they’re pre-empted by the Federal Communications Commission, which rolled back federal net neutrality rules earlier this year.

The trade groups’ suit calls California’s law a “classic example of unconstitutional state regulation,” and it’s asking the court to block the rules from taking effect on Jan. 1.

This is the second lawsuit filed against California since Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on Sunday. The Trump administration’s Department of Justice is also suing California and seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the law from going into effect.

At issue is whether California and other states have the right to pass net neutrality laws, which they claim are necessary to protect their citizens. As part of its roll-back of federal net neutrality rules in June, the FCC included a provision in its order that pre-empted states from creating their own regulations. The DOJ and the broadband industry argue it would be too complicated for internet service providers to follow different net neutrality rules in 50 states.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said California’s law violated the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution.

“Under the Constitution, states do not regulate interstate commerce — the federal government does,” he said in a statement.

But net neutrality supporters argue that since the FCC has refused to regulate these services and because the agency actually abdicated its authority for such regulation to the Federal Trade Commission, states can impose their own rules for services delivered in their states.

California style

California’s law, which prohibits internet service providers from slowing down or blocking access to websites or charging companies like Netflix extra to deliver their services faster, is based on Obama-era net neutrality protections that the Republican-led FCC rolled back earlier this year. But California’s law goes further, also outlawing some zero-rating offers, such as AT&T’s offer, which exempts its own streaming services from its wireless customers’ data caps. The law also applies the net neutrality rules to so-called “interconnection” deals between network operators, something the FCC’s 2015 rules didn’t explicitly do.

The legislation has been opposed by the broadband industry, which considers it too restrictive.

California is just one of several states looking to enact its own rules governing an open internet, after the FCC, under Pai, rolled back the Obama-era net neutrality rules in June. States such as Washington have pushed through a net neutrality law, while others are considering doing so.

Meanwhile, attorneys general of 22 states and the District of Columbia have already filed a brief to a US Appeals Court to reverse the FCC’s move. Companies like Firefox publisher Mozilla and trade groups also filed arguments.

Net neutrality, the principle that all internet traffic is treated fairly, has been one of the hottest topics of debate over the past several years. Consumers, tech companies and Democrats have pushed for stricter regulations prohibiting the prioritization of traffic, which resulted in the rules put in place by the previous FCC. But the Trump-era FCC has agreed with ISPs and Republicans who fear the regulations are onerous and hurt capital investment.

WITH WATSON, TECHNICIANS ARE EMPOWERED TO MAKE THE RIGHT REPAIRS. THE FIRST TIME. ANYWHERE.

Since 2014 Apple and IBM have been working with clients to usher in a new era of smart enterprise. The latest collaboration offers companies interested in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) a chance to be a part of the next big shift in enterprise mobile intelligence — by bringing the power of IBM’s Watson AI services and Apple’s machine learning framework, Core ML, to native iOS apps. IBM Watson Services for Core ML delivers native iOS apps that give developers access to vast amounts of data, both on their device and through the cloud. This means that users can access information and deep insights directly on their iPhone or iPad, even when it’s not connected to a network.

The Coca-Cola Company is always innovating across their technology landscape, and AI is a key focus area. When presented with the opportunity to explore the value of IBM Watson services and machine learning, they quickly engaged. With the Coca-Cola emphasis on quality, they are currently partnering with IBM, working on prototypes for how IBM Watson Services for Core ML may transform in-field capabilities. Initial functionalities being analyzed are visual recognition problem identification, cognitive diagnosis and augmented repair. Early exploration is promising, and Coca-Cola and IBM continue to determine next steps.

Challenges in the field

Field technicians are deployed to service and repair beverage dispensing machines at restaurants and venues around the world. Once on site, the tech must be able to diagnose and correct an enormous array of problems, relying ultimately on their personal expertise and experience. If the system is not one the technician is familiar with – an uncommon water filter, for example – then routine repairs can become frustrating and time-consuming. Adding to the challenges, many sites are in remote or rural locations with no data connectivity, meaning no access to support, and therefore limited ability to make repairs. In these cases, the tech would need to spend time searching through informational databases, product manuals, and might even need to call in or consult with a colleague or specialist – resulting in lost productivity and prolonged system downtime.

Enter Watson Services for Core ML

With the AI capabilities of IBM Watson and Core ML, relevant information is put directly into a tech’s hands the moment she needs it, allowing her to resolve the issue quickly. Coca-Cola used Watson Services for Core ML to build an app that leverages visual recognition and augmented reality to identify equipment issues, diagnose problems, and troubleshoot repairs.

Through the app, the tech can use their iPhone or iPad camera to diagnose system problems via a virtual overlay and guided instructions pulled from the cloud, with zero latency, and even in areas with no network connectivity. Watson Visual Recognition on the device helps the technician identify older or poorly differentiated systems, or unfamiliar parts, and pinpoint the problem right away. Then, Watson Discovery Service helps identify possible solutions for the specific systems and type of malfunction.

Using ARKit, an iOS framework with resources to help create augmented reality experiences for the iPhone and iPad, developers are able to integrate apps with augmented reality models that help the technician solve complex problems on less-familiar systems.

As the technician is working on the job, data is captured. That data is then sent to the cloud once the device is back on the network, so Watson can learn from the interaction and make the learning available to other technicians in near real-time. Using the guided repair system, the technician is empowered to solve the problem the first time, increasing productivity, and elevating customer service – all without needing to call for assistance or reschedule the repair.

With Watson, the technician can identify the problem and determine a solution in less time, no matter their location. Watson Services for Core ML provides developers with the tools to build apps that can give technicians in the field the right data, knowledge, and capabilities to do their best work. Coca-Cola is piloting the app with its field technicians now.

02:47

Watch the IBM Watson Services for Core ML announcement at Think 2018

Watson Technology being used:

Watson Visual Recognition

Watson Studio

With the help of Watson, field technicians can now:

Leverage the power of Apple Core ML to diagnose and correct an enormous array of problems on-site, with little or no network connectivity